
Over 25 days, a $3 million inquiry has heard evidence from everyone involved in the bungled Melbourne hotel quarantine program.
It took hundreds of people from government agencies, hotel operators, private contractors and Victoria Police to pull off the monstrous operation, all while facing the ongoing threat of a global pandemic that was still in its infancy and gaining traction.
63 people were interviewed over the course of a few weeks including security guards, police, members of the ADF, public servants, Victorian government ministers, the Chief Health Officer, and of course Premier Daniel Andrews who rounded out witness submissions on Friday.
WATCH: Premier Andrew's evidence.
And yet despite the many holes in this controversial program, and there are many holes, one person has taken the fall before the inquiry has even come to its conclusion.
Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos has, as the ABC eloquently put it, been "publicly politically executed," as the government attempts to save face in an increasingly restless Victoria.
But Mikakos didn't just resign on Saturday, she quit parliament altogether. And this one the day after Andrews told the hotel quarantine inquiry she was "accountable" for the scheme.
To understand what happened to Mikakos, it's important to go back to the start.
What went wrong with Victoria's hotel quarantine scheme?
The stakes for this inquiry are astronomically high, with the Victorian hotel quarantine scheme to blame for the second wave of coronavirus that's still making life miserable for an entire state. All while the rest of the country continues their stroll towards a new, relatively free, COVID normal.
Outbreaks that began at Stamford Hotel and Rydges Hotel were pretty quickly blamed on infection control beaches, with the federal government immediately passing on any government blame to their state counterparts.
We have, after all, seen that the states and territories of Australia have been acting independently of not just eachother, but of federal direction as well. They've almost turned into mini countries of their own during this pandemic.
Top Comments